Region Free DVD Player

Is there any way to make the DVD Drive in my iMac region free? I have looked through some google searches and have not had much success. I know I could just rip it with HandBrake or MacTheRipper and then watch it but that is a lot of work just to watch a movie. I also have VLC on my computer and that works. But is there any way to permanently change the DVD Drive's firmware to region 0 (all) so that I could watch the DVD in DVD Player or Front Row?
Also would this be illegal and would it void my AppleCare warranty?
Info:
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846:
Firmware Revision: FB2U
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No

The short answer is no. This is a longstanding issue with these drives and a very common complaint.
You need to purchase an external drive. Don't forget to submit a feature request for the region free drives (or, at the very least, the ability to swap out the drive with one that is region-free).
Region codes haven't been valid for years. It's a pretty serious issue. I believe Apple even sells region-locked drives in Australia and New Zealand (where region coding is an illegal trade practice).

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    Welcome to the Toshiba user forums.
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  • Region code for DVD player

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    cambridge2020:
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    DVD region selection is an issue you should be careful with.
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  • Why is there a limit on the number of times a "DVD player region" can be changed, and can it be adjusted for more region changes, or an indefinite number of region changes?

    Why is there a limit on the number of times a "DVD player region" can be changed, and can this numbert be adjusted for more region changes, or an indefinite number of region changes?

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  • Why does my DVD player say I can change regions 4 times

    why does my DVD player say I can only change regions 4x. I want to play some borrowed discs from my daughter.

    DVD Player: About DVD-Video Regions
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    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2397
    Once you have set the region in DVD Player five times it cannot be changed.
    Instead, use VLC to view videos from different regions:
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  • What region is my DVD player on my iMac set to as default?

    Canb onyone tell me what region my DVD player on my iMac (Intel) is defaulted to? I'm trying to work out whether some movies that I have are region 2 or not and all of my other DVD players are multi-region.

    Canb onyone tell me what region my DVD player on my iMac (Intel) is defaulted to?
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  • Connecting my home dvd player to my iMac

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  • Cannot play region 2 DVD

    Hi all. Very new to the Mac world. So far I love it:)
    The migration from a PC was painfull but I need help with this topic.
    I have quite a few DVD's from Greece. I can watch them at my Home ent. system since I was able to unlock my DVD player and at my Windows box I had a couple of programs that could override the restriction (DVD region free, dvd genie etc).
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    QG5   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  
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    You might try VLC player, but newer drives are tougher on any platform.
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  • Why is my macbook DVD player no longer playing commercial DVD's that it used to play perfectly? It reads the disc, but then says not permitted when I hit play. It is much older than 12 months warantee so I hope there is an easy fix?

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    Three things you can try:
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